[opendtv] Google TV Debuts
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:00:37 -0600
I feel about this much as I felt about the TiVo hype. I could already do time
shifting then, and I would prefer my choice of generic browser(s) on these
appliances now.
"Google TV is the type of technology that will appeal to the slightly tech-y
consumer," Gonzalez said. "Early adopters like myself already have separate
Web-connected computers linked to their HDTVs. Google TV provides a similar
experience, without the need to purchase and install a separate PC."
Yes, it makes a lot of sense to build TVs which incorporate a browser. Why
overhype just this one browser?
"When Google and others providing programming can demonstrate a path or model,
the networks will be all over it."
That's the bigger worry. That's when the troubles begin.
Bert
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http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/109018
Google TV Debuts
by James Careless, 11.16.2010
LOS ANGELES
"I want my Google TV!" That's the operational mantra these days at the
Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California
(ETC@USC). Funded in part by Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth
Century Fox, Paramount, and Warner Brothers-plus a number of equipment
manufacturers and vendors-the ETC@USC serves as a dispassionate third-party
evaluator of new entertainment technologies. That's why the facility recently
bought a Google TV set-top box and put it through its paces both by ETC@USC
staff, USC students, and members of the general public.
Google TV browser
"At ETC@USC, our role is to think about and discover new entertainment
technologies and usage paradigms," said ETC@USC CEO and Executive Director
David Wertheimer. "Helping the studios and our other member companies put in
context Google's entrance into the living room is what we do."
THE BASICS
To "log onto" Google TV, the ETC@USC purchased a $400 Sony Internet TV Blu-ray
Disc player with Google TV built-in. Branded as the NSZ-GT1, this box sits
between the TV and the incoming broadcast signal feed; be it off-air, cable, or
satellite. The NSZ-GT1 also connects to the user's broadband Internet
confection, either directly or via home network (wired or wireless).
"The Sony box is similar to Logitech's version-the Logitech Revue-save for the
fact that the NSZ-GT1 comes with the Blu-ray player; the Logitech does not,"
said Bryan Gonzalez, ETC@USC's Social & Digital Media Technology Labs Director.
"With either Android OS-based box, you can surf the Web; access apps for
NetFlix, Twitter, Pandora, and NBA Game Time; surf the Web and watch TV
simultaneously; and use your HDTV as a giant digital picture frame."
One thing you cannot do with Google TV is watch full Web-based episodes of TV
shows from ABC, CBS and NBC. This is no technical issue: The Big Three networks
are deliberately blocking Google TV access to these webcasts. The three
networks are in "ongoing negotiations" to place their long-form content on
Google TV, according to TV Technology sister publication, Broadcasting & Cable.
Online video service Hulu is also blocking Google TV access but is also in
negotiations to bring onboard the Hulu Plus subscription service, according to
the Wall Street Journal.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Before putting the set-top box in the ETC@USC lab-where it can be tested along
with other web-based systems by researchers and consumers alike-Gonzalez set it
up in his own home.
"The Sony NSZ-GT1 is fairly straightforward to install, in terms of
instructions," he tells TV Technology. "However, after spending 30-45 minutes
configuring it, the box asked to download software updates. This I did;
resulting in the system rebooting and requiring me to do the install all over
again!"
Functionally, Sony's Google TV system worked as advertised. Gonzalez was able
to surf the Web while watching HDTV, access TV programs and music streams
online, and generally enjoy the experienced of having both the Web and
broadcast TV integrated into a single device. (The NSZ-GT1 comes with a QWERTY
keyboard-equipped remote control, to support data entry.)
The Sony NSZ-GTI Blu-ray player with Google TV costs $399.99
His first impression? "Google TV is the type of technology that will appeal to
the slightly tech-y consumer," Gonzalez said. "Early adopters like myself
already have separate Web-connected computers linked to their HDTVs. Google TV
provides a similar experience, without the need to purchase and install a
separate PC. That could appeal to a lot of consumers who want Web access in
their living room, as long as it is easy to install."
IMPLICATIONS FOR BROADASTERS
Wertheimer doesn't foresee the Google/Big Three standoff continuing
indefinitely. "The networks want consumers to view their shows, but need to be
paid in some way that covers the costs of the shows being produced," he says.
"When Google and others providing programming can demonstrate a path or model,
the networks will be all over it."
Even when such a model is found, Wertheimer doesn't expect conventional
broadcasting to lose its pivotal money-making status for many years. "These
things always take longer than anyone thinks," he says. "I think broadcast TV
will be alive and well for quite a long time, even as creators and distributors
deliver on the viewer demand on new platforms."
In the meantime, the ETC@USC will keep testing Google TV, Apple TV, and
whatever other new technologies hit the market. "What Google TV is as a product
is just the beginning," Wertheimer said. "We try to think about how consumers
might or might not take advantage of the capabilities of various devices to
consume entertainment in new ways. We are especially interested in the
intersection between social networking and entertainment-an area which is aided
by devices like Google TV, and ultimately the apps that will be built upon
platforms like it."
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